[megaspaz]

Hopefully, it’s just the battery. You’ll probably wanna take into account the cost of replacing tires. They do go hard/rot/flat-spot over time…

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

gah! yer killing me…

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

anything between the 250cc and 500cc range. If your sis is into sports bikes, the ninja 250 would be my choice. Cruiser type bikes, I have no interest in at the moment, but I think you can go higher in the CCs on a cruiser type bike. IIRC, cruiser bikes are heavier than sports bikes of the same cc.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Yes. Especially, if your sister doesn’t feel comfortable with it.

(or has never ridden before).

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

That coretech tex tailbag will expand wider and has attachments for to other bags to be used as a 3 piece saddle bag set. Look at the one in the gear reviews.

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

I did sweep for this ride’s mellower group last week. Pretty good ride. Well organized by Vic and very newbie friendly. There were enough people for 3 groups, spirited, intermediate/mellow, and mellower. The mellower group was about +5 the posted mph. I’m probably gonna gold this route again this week. If you’re down, here’s the details:

http://www.southbayriders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62477

Looks like there might be more peeps showing up as there’s a mirror barf thread as well.

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Heh. the dangers of reading only the first page of youtube comments… but yeh, i knew there was some technique for cars that did that rev matching stuff…

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Matching engine speed with the rear tire speed. You could also install a slipper clutch, if there is one for your bike, that takes care of rev matching for you.

If you’ve ever driven a manual car and downshifted and just let out the clutch, the car will jerk. In cars there’s a technique called double clutching which revs the engine rpm to match were it was at in the higher gear eliminating that jerk. Easing out the clutch and blipping the throttle, more or less, does the same thing on a motorcycle. Just doing straight release the clutch on a downshift will upset the chasis, like the jerking in a car, which you pretty much don’t want to do.

edit: I should describe blipping the throttle. You slow down (engine braking or using your brakes or both), pull in the clutch lever, open the throttle with the clutch lever still in, down shift and release the clutch. I do it ass backwards myself though… I pull in the clutch, downshift, slowdown, throttle, and then release the clutch.

I bet fotobits could describe this blipping thing a whole lot better…

edit2: just re-reading this and it’s still not complete. open the throttle with the clutch lever still in == quick rev or 2 (the blip). downshift and release the clutch should be downshift and release the clutch while smoothly rolling on the throttle. and i still do it ass backwards but with the clarifications above.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Most of the animosity comes from the louder pipes saves lives, the 90+mph lane splitters weaving in between cars while traffic’s moving at a good pace already, the stunters who stunt and block all lanes of traffic on public roads and highways, and just the overall sense of entitlement a few bikers out there feel they deserve. They’re the ones that make johnny cager think all motorcyclists are like that and give us all a black eye. Basically, I ride extra paranoid because joe schmoe squid might’ve done something stoopid and put a big ol’ road rage bullseye on my back.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

heh heh… smrt arse…

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

oh my… 2000 miles saddle time, 2 months on the street on a 500cc and you’ve pushed the bike to the limits already… FYI, not even close.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Same principles basically.

1. let off on the throttle. I don’t completely chop the throttle, you probably will at first.
2. pull in the clutch lever (left handle bar)
3. shift gear with the left foot . Up to go up to a higher gear, down to go to a lower gear.
4. release the clutch while rolling on the throttle smoothly.

#1 and #2 can be done in one step, or can be done in reverse. I do them in one step. Others might do them in different ways.

for #4, if you’re downshifting, you’ll either want to ease the clutch out slowly or blip the throttle to rev match. Easing the clutch out (MSF taught) is easier when starting out than blipping the throttle.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Dammit… i’m slowly falling into the temptation of track days too… but lucky for me there’s time… all the novice classes are done for the year…

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Well said. +1

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

The MSF costs $150.00 if under 21 and $250.00 if over 21. Well, I suppose, in the real world, you should be able to control your bike in slow speeds. You’ll be doing slow riding in shopping parking lots and even uturns… except in the real world uturns will be to the left… There, technically, the figure 8 at the msf isn’t really a real world thing either… Aside from the circle/figure8, everything else is about the same between the dmv test and msf brc course, skill wise. The MSF definately seems to be the easier of routes for getting a M1 license.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Author]

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